What to Eat When You’re Camping

Foil packet meals are one of camping’s greatest allies—it’s simple cooking at its best. You take delicious ingredients (think meat, veggies and seasonings), wrap them up in foil pouch, and place the pouch on a campfire’s coals to cook.

The beauty of foil packet meals is, you can prepare them before you head on your trip, and they require no pots and pans, no plates, and no clean up when you cook. All you need is a fork and some fire. Here are some tips.

Use heavy duty foil. You don’t want the foil to rip and get ashes in your food. If you plan to eat directly from the pack, it’s a good idea to double up, even with heavy duty sheets.

Spray the side of the foil you’ll place your food on to keep it from sticking.

Always put the meat on the bottom as it takes the longest to cook.

Cook your foil packet on the fire’s coals, not in the fire itself. Ideally, you want to place the packet on a bed of coals about 2 inches thick.

Hard, raw vegetables like carrots and potatoes take a long time to cook. If you don’t want to wait, use the canned variety.

When cooking meat, throw in some high-moisture veggies like tomatoes and onions. This will keep the meat from drying out.

Flip the packets over a few times during cooking check to see how your meal is progressing.

Ready to start a fire? Here are some great campsite suggestions:

Slow-roasted veggies. Cut veggies into uniform pieces, toss with olive oil and seasonings and wrap in foil. Nestle the foil packet in the hot coals and cook for about 30 minutes, turning occasionally with metal tongs.

Sausage calzone on a stick. Spear a fully cooked chicken or turkey sausage link with the end of a stick. Then wrap with a piece of crescent roll dough and sprinkle with an Italian seasoning blend. Use a toothpick to hold it, if necessary. Hold (and rotate occasionally) over the fire until dough is golden brown and cooked through.

Easy cherry pie. Fill half of a pita pocket with cherry pie filling, then wrap in aluminum foil and place it in the coals until the pie is heated through.

Campfire pizza. Top a flatbread with your favorite pizza sauce, cheese and toppings. Then place on a metal grill grate positioned over the fire and cook until cheese is melted and pizza is heated through.